“I knew in the back of my mind that I just wanted to be the captain. But again, I was going to do the best thing for the team. If I had kept on winning and was playing like one of the best players in the world, then maybe that was best for the team. But really, I knew I wanted to be captain.”
[On Trump saying he should play]: “Yeah, that was really surreal. Any time you get the support of the president of the United States, it’s just surreal. Thank you Mr President, I hope you’re not disappointed.”
Bradley: “If I felt I needed to play on this team to help them win, I would have. It was really inspiring to see the way these guys played down the stertch. It’s like Q-School every round. Q-School is no fun. I’ve been in that position. Every day you wake up, you’re thinking, ‘I have to impress the captain.’”
“I was never 100 per cent playing. We were considering it. These guys were playing under Ryder Cup pressure, they were playing under extreme Fed-Ex Cup pressure. The tough decisions were the guys we left off the team. You look at these guys and you feel for them because they’re fighting so hard. I know what that’s like.”
Keegan Bradley: “It’s really strange. This whole year has been really strange. I’ve been really surprised on the amount of attention this has gotten. I never really considered playing until after Travellers (which he won). I was really focused on being the best captain I could be. I don’t care if I play or don’t play as long as we win on Sunday. This is the decision that we made and it’s strange that it got so much hype. But the Ryder Cup is a big deal apparently.”
This is, of course, bad news for Europe. Bradley has done the sensible thing, the best thing for the Yanks. They already have a huge home advantage and now not alone will their captain be utterly zoned in, the likes of Young, Griffin and Burns are going to do everything for him to get the win.
So he’s known for “a while”. The team was set over the past 48 hours. So this was all just a tease to feed the endless content factory. Bradley could have come out at any stage and fessed up that he wasn’t playing. But then the audience for his little press conference here would have been so much smaller.
Bah.
Little dig from Bradley to Rory McIlroy there, who said it would be impossible to be a playing captain.
“I don’t really pay a lot of attention to what they say. How would he know? Nobody has done it.”
Bradley: “The decision was made a while ago that I wasn’t playing. This was a really tough decision. There was apoint where I was playing but all these guys stepped up in a major way. I’m really proud of them. I’m really happy with these six players. I’m glad it’s over.”
“I grew up wanting to play Ryder Cups. It broke my heart not to play. But I was chosen to captain this team. If I got to this point and thought the team would be better with me on it, I would have picked myself. But these guys played so incredibly well, it made my job very easy.”
So he didn’t do it in the end! After all the months of to-and-fro, Bradley did the sensible thing and didn’t pick himself. So what was the point of all that!?
Final pick: SAM BURNS
Bradley: “He’s the best putter on the planet. He has an extreme competitive fire in his belly. Can’t wait to see him out there in front of those fans.”
Burns: “Being on these teams is one of the highest honours you can achieve in this sport. It’s been very cool to watch Keegan go about this process.”
Bound to be Burns. Bound to be...
So here we go. It’s either Keegan Bradley picking himself or he’s going to go with Sam Burns...
Fifth pick: PATRICK CANTLAY
Bradley: “He is a leader of our team. When he speaks, people listen. Simply, he was born for the Ryder Cup.”
Cantlay: “I just have to say what an honour it is to be picked. These team events over the past five years, they’re the best memories I have playing golf in my whole life.”
Well now. Two to go. Between Bradley, Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns now, surely...
Fourth pick: CAMERON YOUNG
Bradley: “He’s a New Yorker, he pounds the golf ball, we’re very proud to have him on our team.”
Young: “Playing for your country is very special. The US is home but New York is really home.”
Well, that’s an interesting one. All the scuttlebutt yesterday turns out to be nonsense. Three picks to go. Maybe he’s not going to pick himself after all?
Third pick: BEN GRIFFIN
Bradley: “Really proud of this player for making this team. He was consistent the entire year, second only to Scottie.”
Griffin: “Going from a desk job to making my way back to the PGA Tour has been an incredible journey. I appreciate the belief from Keegan and the vice-captains.”
Second pick: COLLIN MORIKAWA
Bradley: “He will do whatever it takes to win for our team.”
Morikawa: “There’s always more pressure. We’re going to use that as a positive, being at home. All 12 of us are going to be very close, no matter what happens away from the course, you have to hit great shots.”
So far, so predictable. Who’s next?
First pick: JUSTIN THOMAS
Bradley: “He’s the heart and soul of our team. This guy was born to play Ryder Cups.”
Thomas: “The captain’s done a great job of choosing the team. Everybody is here for a reason. I will tell anyone on the team to just be themselves. Be ready and enjoy it. It’s going to be a pretty wild week.”
Bradley is going through the players already qualified. Scottie Scheffler (the best there is), JJ Spaun (great guy to have around), Xander Schauffele (one of the most humble guys in the world, our good guy), Russell Henley (one of my favourite people, gutsy player), Harris English (put in a lot of hard work to get back to this spot) and Bryson DeChambeau (has gone above and beyond what you could ask of a player to make this team).
“It’s been the most incredible year of my life, honestly. My favourite year as a professional...”
Here we go, then. Keegan Bradley is at the mic.
Time is getting close now. Coverage of the announcement starts at 4pm Irish time. Presuming there’ll be the usual torrent of guff that surrounds these things, we might have to wait a while for the goods. But it won’t be a long while.
If Bradley does pick himself, then who gets dumped? The rumour going around in the past 48 hours is that Ben Griffin could be for the high jump, which would be a fairly brutal - not to mention shameful - act if it comes to pass. Griffin has been the surprise package of American golf in 2025, jumping 50 places in the world rankings on the back of a season that has featured one win and eight top 10s. He finished ninth in the Ryder Cup rankings, two places ahead of Bradley.
If not Griffin, then who? Sam Burns finished 16th on the list but has been a reliable partner for World Number One Scottie Scheffler in both the Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup in the past. Cameron Young has finished no worse than 11th in his past four tournaments and has jumped 40 places in the world rankings in just the space of five months.
If Bradley has picked himself, one of these dudes has been on the wrong end of an awkward phonecall at some stage in the past 24 hours.
And if you’re wondering at all how the Yanks got themselves into this situation, it’s fair to say that this clip is where it all began. The top bods at the PGA of America saw it on Netflix and, so the story goes, felt so sorry for Bradley that they offered him the captaincy. Mad!
It is, of course, pretty incredible that everyone is still in the dark over whether or not Bradley is going to pick himself. I’d have bet Keegan’s splendidly plush house in Jupiter, Florida that it would have leaked out by now. But the only slight whisper so far has been published by James Corrigan, golf writer with The Daily Telegraph, who says his sources tell him Bradley is likely to put himself in the team. Corrigan is one of the best story-getters on the circuit so the likelihood is he’s correct. Still, it’s interesting that nobody on the US side of the pond seems to have been able to nail it down.
US captain Keegan Bradley will this afternoon announce his captain’s picks for next month’s Ryder Cup, with the big talking point being whether or not he will pick himself.
Six players are already guaranteed a spot on the team - Scottie Scheffler, JJ Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Harris English and Bryson DeChambeau - with today’s captain’s picks completing the 12-man squad.
Bradley will make the announcement live in Frisco, Texas from 4pm Irish time and answer some questions from the assembled press afterwards. You can follow our live updates below and also watch the live feed at the top of this article.
The European team is due to be announced next Monday with Shane Lowry hoping to be included via Luke Donald’s captain’s picks.
Key reads
- Malachy Clerkin: The Keegan Bradley situation is equal parts hilarious, confusing and just plain mad
- Ryder Cup Q&A: Will Shane Lowry make the European team and when will it be announced?